He bears more grudges than lonely high-court judges…

Ah, good old Moz. As I mentioned in a previous entry, I’m on a bit of a Smiths/Morrissey kick at the moment. I’m currently reading bits of Johnny Rogan‘s ‘Morrissey – The Albums’ and Simon Goddard‘s ‘Songs That Saved Your Life‘, both of which break the analysis down to individual songs, although the first of the two also deals with the solo releases of our man. They’re both engaging books, and while the hardcore fans seem to hate Rogan with a passion, his comments on the solo stuff have spurred me on to go back and listen to ignored, and critically unpopular, albums like ‘Southpaw Grammar‘ and ‘Maladjusted‘. While I may not agree with everything he has to say about the songs, it’s given me a chance to listen to them in a fresh light.What I’ve particularly enjoyed about the experience is noticing just how splendid Morrissey‘s voice can be. It’s unique, it’s distinctive and occasionally compared to a malfunctioning foghorn, but at times it can floor you. ‘Vauxhall & I‘ is getting played a lot at the moment, and it only serves to point out how bizarre it was for the Britpop scene not to hold their natural royalty aloft. Weller was the appointed guv’nor of Britpop, but Moz was certainly deserving of a similarly elevated position.Anyway, a more critical approach to the man and his tunes will appear here once I’ve got my thoughts in order, but I thought it was worth posting this so that anyone who might class themselves as a regular reader can do some homework and then may even join in via the comments option. T’would be splendid to hear from you.Here’s ‘The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get‘, from ‘Vauxhall & I‘